London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

US Vice President Joe Biden’s task in last night’s debate with Mitt Romney running mate Paul Ryan was to halt President Obama’s slide in the polls. We shall see whether he achieved that, but he was certainly much more convincing than the President was last week. It should help energise Democrats. But Mr Ryan, while judged by most commentators to be the loser, turned in a credible performance against Mr Biden. It means that, as before last night’s debate, the US race is still wide open.

More than three million people suffered a second day of 38C temperatures on the east coast of the US without access to air conditioning after sudden storms cut power — and forecasters warned that more are expected today.